


437 Miles

by AwkwardJello



Category: Feverwake - Victoria Lee
Genre: AU where noam and dara meet online, Alternate Universe - High School, Inspired by a dream i had lmao, M/M, Pen Pals, gonna edit these tags as i go along, there will be abuse, time to make my contribution, why r there so little fever king fics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23694385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardJello/pseuds/AwkwardJello
Summary: It started off as a stupid project that Noam just wanted to get over with. Text some stranger, jot notes, and be done with it. He just never expected the stranger to be so captivating and easy to connect with. Suddenly, Noam doesn't ever want to stop talking to them. He wonders: do they feel the same way too?
Relationships: Bethany Glennis/Carter Ames, Noam Álvaro/Dara Shirazi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	1. Nice to Meet You

**Author's Note:**

> hi, so this is my first feverwake fanfic and also my first AO3 fanfic in general lol. i just recently got back into writing fanfics so sorry if the quality is bad. still, i hope u enjoy the story :D

**You:** um, hi. Im noam álvaro. so my class is doing this project where we need to pick a random student from another school to be pen pals and uh, i happened to get ur number

Noam holds his breath, waiting for the person on the other end of the line to type back an answer. When the three dots don’t pop up, he leans his head back against the headboard of his bed, and lets out a tired sigh. He peeks at his alarm clock. 

_Of course they’re not gonna respond at fucking 2 in the morning_ , he thought. Noam had been staying up late working on his physics paper, unaware of the amount of time gone by. It was only when he finally, _finally_ finished up the paper and hit “Print” that he remembered his _other_ assignment. Some dumb social experiment about contacting a student from another school and, well, Noam couldn’t exactly remember what he was supposed to talk to them about. He was going to have to check his assignment sheet for that.

 _Gah, who even does pen pals anymore? Isn’t this something you’re supposed to do when you’re in primary school?_ Curse Bethany for pressuring him into signing up for a psychology course with her. Couldn’t she have waited until college to enroll in such a class?

“Too late now,” Noam mutters to himself. 

_Ping._

Noam looks down at his phone, his eyes widening. 

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** hello, just saw this message now

Noam inhales sharply. _Shit, they actually responded?_ He waits with bated breath as he watches the three dots hop up and down, one by one.

 **(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** nice to meet you, Noam Álvaro. my name is dara shirazi

**You added “Dara Shirazi” to your contacts.**

_Great, what do I say now?_ No doubt Dara could see that Noam already read their message. But before Noam can respond, another text message from them pings into existence.

 **Dara Shirazi:** so ur doing this for a project?

 **You:** yeah, its for my psychology class

 **Dara Shirazi:** interesting

 _Um… what now?_ It occurred to Noam that Dara was up at 2 a.m. just like he was. Unless they were on the other side of the country. Then they’d be one, two, maybe three hours behind. Hell, they could be on the other side of the _world_ for all he knew.

 **You:** btw, what pronouns do u go by?

 **Dara Shirazi:** he/him. U?

So Dara was a guy. Noam imagined a boy his age on the other side, his head bent over his phone screen. Was Dara also trying to figure out a way to carry the conversation? Or was he irritated that some random stranger texted him right as he was (maybe?) about to go to sleep? Or maybe Dara was already sleeping, and had been woken up by Noam’s text.

 **You:** he/him. sorry if i woke u up. Its 2 am where i am now

 **Dara Shirazi:** np its 2 where i am rn too but i wasnt getting any sleep anyway

 **You:** so ur in the US too?

 **Dara Shirazi:** yeah, new york

 **You:** north carolina :)

Was it right to include that smiley face? Too late, Noam’s finger already hits “Send.” 

**You:** what school do you go to?

Noam spends the next fifteen minutes asking Dara basic questions like “What grade are you?” (Dara responded with “high school senior”), “What’s your favorite animal?” (Dara answered “goat”), and “What’s your favorite book?” to which Dara replies with “ _Invitation to a Beheading_.” 

**You:** oh i know that one! that’s a good book

 **Dara Shirazi:** i see you have good taste. got any recs? ;)

Noam laughs at the winky face, and doesn’t take long to respond.

 **You:** i really like The Master and Margarita

 **Dara Shirazi:** hmmm… ill be sure to check it out

The two of them continue chatting, Noam and his faceless companion. It isn’t until he reads “3 a.m.” on his alarm clock that he decides to end their conversation, albeit reluctantly.

 **You:** i think im gonna go sleep now. Otherwise im gonna pass out 2moro at school lol

 **Dara Shirazi:** ok 

**Dara Shirazi:** good night then

 **You:** good night

Noam flops back onto his bed, closes his eyes, and drifts into a dreamless sleep, his phone still in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow, u made it to the end, congrats! sorry if the pen pal psychology project thing seems weird and inaccurate, i just want noam and dara texting each other lmao.


	2. Chapter 2: What r u up to now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany starts talking to her pen pal. Meanwhile, Noam strikes up a second conversation with Dara... and gets in trouble while he's at it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's chapter 2! I'm gonna try to write longer chapters from here on out.

Ever since he upgraded his sleep schedule from three hours to five a night (“Sleep deprivation isn’t something to joke about, Noam! You could  _ die _ !” Bethany had warned him for Lord-knows-how-many times), Noam had been convinced that he could survive the school day with three hours  _ every now and then _ . Judging by the concerned furrow of Bethany’s eyebrows the next day, he was wrong. His friend had snuck up on him as he was getting off the bus, and when she pounced on him with a playful “Boo!,” he almost fell off the sidewalk. That wiped any teasing remark she had prepared for him out of her mind, replaced with an immediate “Oh my god, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, B,” he reassures her. Bethany’s brows scrunch even closer together. “Just got a little less sleep than normal last night.”

“Noam--” Bethany starts, but Noam brushes her off before she can go on another one of her worried mama lectures.

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” he repeats. “It’s not like I haven’t gotten less than seven hours of sleep before. I’ll get used to it.” He gives her a nonchalant smile. “Anyway, did you contact your pen pal yet? I started talking to mine last night.”

Bethany sighs, but to Noam’s relief, she goes along with the subject change anyway. “No, not yet. I’m a little nervous, you know? It’s been a while since I’ve gotten pen pals.” 

Noam chuckles. “You? Nervous? Bethany, you’re a social butterfly. You can make friends out of anyone, even the trash can.”

Bethany rolls her eyes. “Oh shut up. Besides, it’s one thing to approach someone in real life and go ‘Hey, wanna be my friend?’ It’s another to meet them online without ever seeing their face. It’s kinda scary, not knowing who’s on the other end.”

“You do know those phone numbers we got were confirmed to be from other high school students, right?” 

“Yes, I know, but still.” Bethany bites her lip. “What if they decide they don’t want to talk to me after all?”

Noam snorts. “Their loss then.” When Bethany keeps shuffling her feet, Noam softens. “B, remember when you approached me on the first day of high school? Me, a scruffy middle-school dropout who just got out of juvie.” 

“You’re not scruffy.”

“Yeah, well, tell that to our other classmates and 50% of my teachers. But even though everyone was telling you to stay away from me with that ‘bad influence’ shit, you still talked to me.” He smiles fondly to himself. “I wasn’t planning on making friends, y’know. But I made an exception for you.” He turns to her. “My point is, if you can get along with me, then you can get along with anyone. I am 100% certain you and your pen pal are going to hit it off just fine.”

Bethany lets out a small laugh. “Alright, alright. Thanks for the pep talk.” She pauses for a moment. “I still want you here with me when I send the first text though. Maybe lunchtime?”

Noam playfully bumps her shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, sure.” They continue walking to school in comfortable silence.

* * *

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Bethany says. She and Noam have their heads bent over her phone as she starts typing. “‘Hello, my name is Bethany Glennis.’ Ugh, no, that’s too formal. Um, how about, ‘Hi! I’m Bethany, but u can call me B!’ Uh, is that too much?” She throws her hands up. “Ugh! I don’t know!”

“Here, how about ‘hi, my name is Bethany, what’s yours?’” Noam suggests.

Bethany nods. “Okay, thanks.” She hits “Send.”

**You:** Hi! My name is Bethany, what’s yours?

Noam giggles. “What?”

“Did you really have to do proper capitalization?”

“I want to make a good first impression, okay?”

Noam shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

“Oh my god, they’re texting back!” The three dots hop up and down on Bethany’s screen, just like how Noam can feel the vibrations of Bethany’s leg jiggling up and down with excitement (or was it anxiety?).

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** is this some scam cuz if it is, im not interested, so fuck off

Bethany is silent. Noam can feel her stomach plummeting down to the bottom of the ocean. “I mean, they just got a random text from a stranger asking them for their name,” he explained. “Maybe tell them you’re a high school student and you’re doing this for a project?”

Bethany nods, still not saying anything.

**You:** Actually I'm a high school student. We’re doing this project in class where we talk to pen pals.

Noam and Bethany hover over the phone, both having forgotten their cafeteria trays on the lunch table.

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** pen pals?

**You:** Yeah, we got a list of phone numbers from other high school students in class, and I got yours.

**You:** Sorry if I caused any confusion.

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** its fine, sorry for cursing at you earlier

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** hmm now that i think about it, i vaguely remember writing down my number for something like this

Noam hears Bethany audibly suck in a breath, which she doesn’t let out as she types out her next message.

**You:** So are we cool?

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** yeah we cool

**You:** So what’s ur name?

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** shoot i forgot about that lmao

**(XXX)XXX-XXXX:** im ames

**You added “Ames” to your contacts.**

“Oh my god, I did it,” Bethany squeaks. She turns to Noam, her blue eyes wide. 

Noam chuckles. “See, that wasn’t so bad.” He continues chewing his mozzarella sticks while Bethany continues texting her new friend.

* * *

Sleep deprivation is a funny thing. One moment, you feel like shit, because the world just won’t stop spinning around you like a tortuous merry-go-round. Then suddenly, you get the urge to do something geniously stupid because you’re just that high, and you think “Fuck it” before proceeding to do that geniously stupid thing you came up with.

That was what was going through Noam’s mind as he struggled to keep his eyes open during Swensson’s lecture, when he got the idea to text Dara and see what the other boy was up to. Noam already understood the topic that Swensson had been babbling about for the last ten minutes, so he decided to kill some time. Besides, Swensson hated him, so he figured he had nothing to lose. 

**You:** Hey, what r u up to now?

_ Wait, what if he’s in class?  _ Noam worries. Then the signature three dots come up, and he relaxes a little.

**Dara Shirazi:** eating lunch now, u?

**You:** lol im in class now, but the teachers so boring

**Dara Shirazi:** looks like we’ve got a rebel here ;)

**You:** lmao ur not wrong

For a moment, Noam considers boasting to Dara about the time he got put in juvie, but then decides against it. He only just met Dara  _ last night _ . 

**You:** so what u eating?

**Dara Shirazi:** u really wanna know?

**You:** well im bored rn so i hav nothing else to talk abt

**Dara Shirazi:** here ill send a picture 

_ Oh my god, he’s sending me a picture?!  _ A beat later, Noam was staring down at a photo of a bowl containing chicken and lettuce.

**You:** oh wow, what’s that

**Dara Shirazi:** im at Chipotle 

**You:** damn, isnt that expensive

**Dara Shirazi:** not really. Just $11

Eleven dollars.  _ Imagine having enough money to buy your own food.  _ Noam always picks up his rations from the Migrant Center. Apart from the free lunches the school offers and the occasional McDonald Happy Meal, there isn’t much else for Noam to put in his stomach. Just looking at Dara’s picture makes his mouth water.

**You:** that looks good

**Dara Shirazi:** oh plz this is pretty plain. U should see what my friend got

_ I’d rather not.  _

**You:** no thx, im already hungry just from looking at ur pic haha

“Ahem.” Noam looks up from his phone, and his smile is wiped clean off his face.  _ Well, shit. _ Swensson peers down his ugly, freckled nose at Noam, his eyes narrowed. “So, Mr Álvaro, I suppose whatever you are texting right now is a  _ much  _ higher priority than my lesson.” A couple of Noam’s classmates snicker.

Noam stays silent. Without looking, he swipes out of his conversation with Dara so Swensson won’t be able to humiliate him with it. 

“Why don’t you share with the rest of us what was  _ so _ important that you couldn’t wait until after class to talk about it?” Swensson presses. 

Noam leans back in his seat. “I’d rather not, sir. And before you tell me to share it anyway, this is America. I have a right to remain silent.” He smirks up at his teacher.

For a moment, Swensson looks like a volcano about to erupt. Then he quickly steels his face and holds his hand out. Noam lets out an annoyed sigh, and places his phone in Swensson’s hand. “I will give this back to you at the end of class. And you have detention.” Noam rolls his eyes at Swensson’s turned back. Of course he does.

* * *

The bus door hisses open, and Noam climbs up its steps. He plops down into a bus seat, and whips out his returned phone. He opens it to find a couple of missed messages from Bethany and… Dara.

**Dara Shirazi:** what class r u in now?

**Dara Shirazi:** hello? 

**Dara Shirazi:** did u get caught?

**Dara Shirazi:** … 

**Dara Shirazi:** ok well i gotta go now. ttyl

_ Does Dara care about my responses that much?  _ Noam smiles.  _ So he gets concerned if I don’t text him back.  _

**You:** hey im back

**You:** yeah, my teacher caught me lol. even got detention

_ I wonder what Dara’s doing now. Is he at home, eating dinner? Or maybe he’s doing homework. Or maybe…  _

_ Ping. _

**Dara Shirazi:** this is why u dont text in class, idiot

**You:** surprisingly this is not the dumbest thing ive done

**Dara Shirazi:** oh really? plz enlighten me

**You:** well there was the time i got arrested… 

**Dara Shirazi:** … 

**Dara Shirazi:** im a little scared now but go on

And that was how Dara found out about the time Noam got arrested for hacking his way into government servers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have i mentioned how much i love bethany and noam's relationship? I'm an absolute sucker for wholesome friendships.


End file.
